This weekend, there will be an annual celebration of an event that is almost as old as our country. On Saturday and Sunday, the Olde Fort Mifflin Historical Society will celebrate the 235th Anniversary of the “Siege & Bombardment of Fort Mifflin.”

There will be two days of activities commemorating the historic siege and bombardment of Fort Mifflin that took place in 1777. Activities get underway each day at 10 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m.

Fort Mifflin, which was originally called Fort Island Battery, was commissioned in 1771. It was also known as Mud Island Fort because it sits on Mud Island (also known as Deep Water Island) on the Delaware River near the Philadelphia International Airport. During the American Revolutionary War, the British Army bombarded and captured the fort as part of their conquest of Philadelphia in autumn 1777.

During the siege, 400 American soldiers held off more than 2,000 British troops and more than 250 ships that had been responsible for launching an endless barrage of cannonballs into the fort. After five days of holding off the British, the American troops evacuated the fort after having successfully denied the British Navy free use of the Delaware River.

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Activities at this weekend’s commemoration will depict life in the 18th century and also feature weapons demonstrations, tactical demonstrations, musket drills for youngsters and a scavenger hunt.

There will be military re-enactors portraying both American and British forces as they commemorate the largest bombardment that took place in the entire American Revolution. Visitors to this weekend’s event will be able to learn what really happened at Fort Mifflin in 1777.